Means for propelling a rowboat



Dec. 13, 1955 Filed May 17, 1952 F. w. RAICY 2,726,624

MEANS FOR PROPELLING A ROWBOAT 2 Sheets-Sheet l Fr n r M fnxcy Dec. 13, 1955 F. w. RAICY 2,726,624

MEANS FOR PROPELLING A ROWBOAT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 17, 1952 Frank M 74/ ay United States Patent FOR PROPELL'ING A ROWBOA'E Frank W. Raicy, Portland, Oreg.

ApplicatiomMag, 17,, 1952,. Serial.No. 288,409

3 Claimsa (G121; 1 15-21);

My inventionrelatesto a boatrpropelling means whereintwatenisnforced thru an open-ended. box to move the boat forward, the box at the same;time serving, as a rudder.

0116:0155 the objectives. ofmy invention is to provide a meansr'whereby a novice may handle a boat and doit-in a: manner. thatis more simple and: easier than rowing. Othen objectives will appearv as the: disclosure advances.

The invention .isillustrated inthe. accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation partly in section of one modificationofthe devicerFigt 2 isa vertical cross secton on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a side elevation partly in section of another modification of the device in which two blades are employed; Fig. 4 is a vertical cross section on the line 44 of Fig. 3.

Throughout the drawings and the specification similar numerals refer to similar parts.

The letter B refers to a vertical section through the aft end of a rowboat on whose vertical transom 1 is mounted the female members 2 of pintle bearings spaced and positioned to receive the male members 3 which are mounted on a standard 4 secured to an open-ended box 5. If a boat has an inclined transom the female pintle members 2 must be blocked out to a plumb position.

This open-ended box 5 is of rectangular cross section from the sides of which extend upwardly the brace members 6 which are secured to the standard 4 to provide stability. It is apparent that since the box 5 is mounted on pintle bearings it is free to swing on the arc of a circle, the means to cause it to swing being the tiller arm 7. The end 7A of the tiller arm 7 is bifurcated to straddle the standard 4 and is formed to extend rearward thereof to support the connecting rod 8 hingedly connected thereto by means of the hinge pin 9. In the standard 4 is the hinge pin 10 hingedly connecting the tiller arm 7 to the standard 4 in a manner to make said tiller arm a lever of the first class. The connecting rod 8 depends from its hinge pin 9 and its lower end is hingedly connected to a blade 11 positioned within the open-ended box 5 and extending between the sides 5A thereof. The bearings 12 for the hinge pin 13 which receives the connecting rod 8 are mounted on the top of the float 11. An opening is provided for them in the box top 5B so that the blade 11 may be raised into contacting parallelism with said box top 5B. This blade 11 approximates the size of the box bottom 5C. It is to be noted that the hinged connection to the blade 11 is made at the third point and hence when the blade 11 is raised or lowered the long end 11A will drop through gravity since it is the heaviest and the short end 118 will be raised automatically thereby. The degree to which it is desirable to have this long and heavy end 11A drop may be regulated such as by the spring 14 secured to the top of the blade 11 with its end 14A adjacent the connecting rod 8 formed to engage said rod 8 as the long end of the blade 11A drops through gravity. Assuming that the blade 11 is made 12" long with the connection made at its third point and the drop limited to 3" it is apparent that when the blade 2 11* is'* raised untilits sl'r'or-t I end- 11B? comes i'nto contact with the'box top 5B the end of theportion-HA-willtb'e said box" top -and-" the-'end=of the blade will liave to move a maximum" of 12"" while the blade 11 is' coming-- into parallelism with the box=top=SB.- Ifthe drop is -lirnited to 2" thewater will and does move==fasteri This fact leads'to the deviceshowntin-Fi'gs;3 and4; ir'rwhieli two blades 11 are arranged in ta-n'dem withiirthe box 5 and operated by the sameconnectingwod f 8*wlioselower end is forked to engage the spaced b'earings1 2on the-respective blades 1 1- which may be made much=-shorter -'in-'-the instant case, or, as 'amat-terof-"fct; the two--blades may havea total length=equal to=tliat of the-single blade or around 123 The forward blade may have-a drop or pitch of say 2"wliilethe-diogpr pitcli of tlie rearward flbat may-'besetat I". Sineethe watermoved by the rearward blade moves faster than the water being" moved by" the forward" blade-a partial vacuumi's formed which tends'to lower the: resistance to the waterbeing 'moved' by the forward blade-and speed' it up; In other-words, the water is speeded' up'asit moves toward' the rearward blade;

The advantage of the tandenr blade arrangement lies in' the fact that tliede'pt-h'of 'theboxi 5fmay becut down and hence the travel of 'the blade 11 may; be shortened wherebyth'e rat-iosof'the tiller arm ends-may be increased without increasing the travel of the operating arm end 7B of said tiller arm 7.

While I have mentioned several pitches it is to be understood that those mentioned are not fixed but may vary since boats vary in size, shape, and weight, and, as does the strength of the users.

In practice a 6" x 6 x 12" box having a blade with a length ratio of 4" to 8" with a 3" pitch has proved very satisfactory in bucking a six mile current.

The box 5 should be set so as to be covered with at least 2" of water and should clear the keel 16 if the boat has one. The box ends may be plumb although the Figs. 1 and 3 show the forward end formed with a rake to more readily deflect or ride obstructions. As a further means to deflect obstructions or keep weeds from entering the box 5 I have provided spaced rods 17 which extend between the box top 5B and its bottom 5C.

The operation of the device is very simple and merely consists in raising and lowering the tiller operating arm 7B while at the same time turning it to the right or left if it is desired to change the course of the boat.

In trolling for fish I find the pumping operation may be done with the foot through the aid of a closed coil spring 18 and a stirrup 19 whose hanger 20 depends from the tiller arm end 7B. Fig. 3 shows the arrangement of the application. In this instance, the spring 18 is secured to the tiller arm end 7A and to the standard 4 which, in the double blade arrangement, is bifurcated to straddle the forked end 21 of the connecting rod 8. Without illustration it is evident in Fig. 1, that the end 7A of the tiller arm may be extended to receive one end of the coil spring 18 whose opposite end may be secured to the top of the box 5.

It is apparent by a reference to Fig. 3, that the corner 22 of the blade 11 comes into contact with the top of the box 5 first on the upstroke but it is not so apparent that this corner 22 contacts the bottom of the box 5 first on the downstroke. However, it does, since the water under pressure holds the blade end 11A up and the spring 23 fixes the pitch as did the spring 14.

While I have described the single and tandem blade arrangements, it is apparent that modifications in the design and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the principles involved and therefor I do not limit the invention to the modifications specifically described but extend the invention to all that comes fairly within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new in the art is:

1. In means for propelling a rowboat the combination of, a standard adapted to be hingedly connected to the transom of the boat, a tiller arm hingedly connected to the top end of the standard, an open ended box of rectangular cross section fixed to the bottom end of the standard, a pair of blades within the box arranged in tandem and having a combined length approximating the box length, and a connecting rod hingedly connected to the tiller arm and to the blades at approximately the third point of their length the long ends of the blades being toward the discharge end of the box.

2. In means for propelling a rowboat the combination of, a standard adapted to be hingedly connected to the transom of the boat, a tiller arm hingedly connected to the top end of the standard, an open ended box of rectangular cross section fixed to the bottom end of the standard, a pair of blades within the box arranged in tandem and having a combined length approximating the box length, a connecting rod hingedly connected to the tiller arm and to the blades at approximately the third point of their length the long ends of the blades being toward the discharge end of the box and means to limit the pitch of each blade in relation to the connecting rod.

3. In means for propelling a rowboat the combination of, a standard adapted to be hingedly connected to the transom of the boat, a tiller arm hingedly connected to the top end of the standard, an open ended box of rectangular cross section fixed to the bottom end of the standard, a pair of blades within the box arranged in tandem and having a combined length approximating the box length, a connecting rod hingedly connected to the tiller arm and to the blades at approximately the third point of their length the long ends of the blades being toward the discharge end of the box and means to limit the pitch of each blade in relation to the connecting rod the blade adjacent the discharge end having the least pitch.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 404,072 Burrowes May 28, 1889 718,621 Guenther Jan. 20, 1903 819,649 I-Iam May 1, 1906 829,033 Ronstrom Aug. 21, 1906 923,283 Loomer June 1, 1909 1,329,228 Esparza Jan. 27, 1920 1,553,177 Kulmer Sept. 8, 1925 2,281,915 Carrier May 5, 1942 2,399,500 Montalbano Apr. 30, 1946 2,407,901 Petzold Sept. 17, 1946 2,534,180 Raicy Dec. 12, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 619,665 France Ian. 5, 1927 

